Born as James William Durbin on the 6th January 1989, in Santa Cruz, California USA, and is a hard rock musician, guitarist and singer, who came to prominence after finishing fourth in the TV music competition show “American Idol” (2011-2012). This appearance brought him fame, and most recently he was appointed as the lead singer of the glam metal band Quiet Riot.
Have you ever wondered how rich James Durbin is, as of mid- 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Durbin’s net worth is as high as $600,000, an amount earned through his successful career as a musician, which has been active since the mid-2000s.
James Durbin Net Worth $600,000
James is the son of Willy Durbin and his wife Judy Settle-Durbin. Sometime in his teenage years, James was diagnosed with Asperger and Tourette syndrome; fortunately, that didn’t stop him from becoming a rock star.
In his late teens James became a part of a children’s theater group “Kids on Broadway”, which led to him playing the lead roles in “Beauty and the Beast” and “Grease”. He also featured in “West Side Story” in which he played Tony, and portrayed Oscar in “Sweet Charity”. Slowly his love for music began to surface, and he joined Alan Parsons in Parson’s project “Art & Science of Sound Recording”, for which he showed how to play “We Play The Game”.
He then formed a glam metal band – “Hollywood Scars” – and started using the stage name Jimmy Levox. Before the Hollywood Scars disbanded they released one single, “Under The Cherry Tree”, but without any major success. After that, he became a part of the band Whatever Fits, before he was accepted for the 10th season of “American Idol”, and from his first performance, James got the attention not only from the public but also from the judges, due to his looks, skills, and the very selection of his songs. He performed tracks of such musicians as Aerosmith, Elton John, Muse, Judas Priest, Bon Jovi, The Beatles and other famed rock musicians. He was eliminated at the Top 4 stage, but still a homecoming was organized in his honor. It was the first time in the show’s history that homecoming was organized for someone who was not in the top three contestants. James popularity grew ever higher, and the homecoming event was named “Durbin Day”.
James’ increasing media presence brought him guest appearances in such variety shows as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”, “Live with Regis and Kelly” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”, and he also toured the USA with the rest of the Top 11 finalists of “American Idol”.
His professional career has just been launched and he began working with numerous successful musicians, but also started working on his own debut album. He signed with the Wind-up label, and his first studio album came out in November 2011, entitled “Memories of a Beautiful Disaster”, which reached No. 36 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and No. 8 on the US Rock chart. Three years later James released his second album, “Celebrate”, however, the album was nowhere near as successful as his debut album, since it landed at No. 83 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The unsuccessful recording left him without a record label, nevertheless, he didn’t surrender and just two years later released his third studio album “Riot on Sunset”, as an independent release; unfortunately, the decline in his popularity continued.
However, luck smiled upon James when in March 2017 it was announced that he would become the lead singer of the glam metal band Quiet Riot, one of his music idols during his teen years. He has recorded one album with his new band, entitled “Road Rage”, and the album will be available in stores on the 4th August 2017.
Regarding his personal life, James has been married to Heidi Air Lowe since 2011; the couple has two children together.
James is a big fan of pro-wrestling and so far has made one appearance in the World Wrestling Entertainment in 2012.
